A comparison of African-American versus Caucasian men screened for an alcohol administration laboratory study: recruitment and representation implications.

African-Americans are under-represented in alcohol research, especially alcohol administration laboratory studies. Specific recruitment of African-Americans into laboratory studies, however, may also inadvertently affect the generalizability of the findings. In the current study, we compared all African-American young adult men (n=53) who volunteered and met criteria for an alcohol administration study to a sample (n=50) of Caucasian men recruited for the same study. Groups were compared on variables including demographics, quantity and frequency of alcohol consumption and other substance use, consequences of use and psychopathology. Compared to their Caucasian counterparts, African-American men reported less drinking frequency and quantity, less use of other substances and fewer negative consequences, but their alcohol and drug use was more likely to be associated with various measures of psychopathology. Results suggest that even when recruiting participants using criteria that should minimize differences (i.e. all participants were "social drinkers"), differences on key variables were evident. These differences may have important implications for alcohol research.